Crazy Crackers bad behavior, please help!

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crazycracker
Posts: 7
Joined: Tue Oct 15, 2013 1:20 pm

Crazy Crackers bad behavior, please help!

Post by crazycracker »

About five or six years ago i found my indian ringneck who i named crazy cracker in the woods. She had clipped wings, and was about five miles from the nearest house. When I found her she was full grown so I have no idea how old she is. She is my first bird so when I found her I focused on gaining her trust and keeping her healthy. At first she feared everyone, I spent hours a day sitting near her until she came to me, I now have a great relationship with her. Training has been a problem though. My bird is territorial over both her cage and her play stand. I have tried lowering them, moving them, and she visits different areas of the house regularly. When I let her wings grow out she will literally fly off her perch or cage and at peoples eyes. Even away from her territory she is very finicky and is known to bite whoever she's on. She is sweet to me and will step right off her territory onto my hand. But regardless of whether or not i'm in the room she seems to have a real hate towards other people. One of my friends held her and did not flinch or make a noise as she bit down repeatedly. His lack of reaction did not seem to make any difference in her behavior, he still ended up bleeding in many spots. I do not think it is fear because she will approach and even chase people to launch an attack. Crazy is also terrified of brooms, i'm not sure if this was caused by her previous owners. Id love to see her make a new friend. Any advice would be appreciated.
ranechild
Posts: 295
Joined: Mon Apr 01, 2013 12:57 pm
Location: Baltimore, MD

Re: Crazy Crackers bad behavior, please help!

Post by ranechild »

It's a she right? No black ring? I'm guessing it is a she because she exhibits alot of the charachteristics of females that are discussed repeatedly on this forum. Crazy is certainly acting in a normal female way for her circumstance. Ellieelectrons has a thread or two where we discuss wackadoodle female behaviors to include territorialism, favoritism, nesting behaviors and so forth.
I strongly recommend that you use the search function on the forum to look up "female behavior". In the related threads you will find many suggested remedies to try.
For the broom... who knows! One of my birds is terrified of the vacuum cleaner.
ellieelectrons
Posts: 2708
Joined: Mon Jul 19, 2010 1:17 am
Location: Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia

Re: Crazy Crackers bad behavior, please help!

Post by ellieelectrons »

Is it nesting time where you are? This could be related to nesting behaviours. See my struggles with this here:
http://www.indianringneck.com/forum/vie ... =2&t=14905

After three months, we're just coming out the other side this year. I'm getting my bird back! If your bird sees you as her mate, then that _could_ explain why the aggression is directed at others and not you.

Ellie.
crazycracker
Posts: 7
Joined: Tue Oct 15, 2013 1:20 pm

Re: Crazy Crackers bad behavior, please help!

Post by crazycracker »

I wondered if that was what it was, but its odd. Her behavior has been this way without change for five years. As soon as she got past her fear of people it turned to aggression. She is not protective over me at all. But the only time she bites me is if someone else gets to close that she really dislikes. I let her eat with me, shower with me, and she sleeps in the room with me and my boyfriend. Would you advise getting her a nesting box? She is my only bird so i wasn't sure if there was a point in it.
ellieelectrons
Posts: 2708
Joined: Mon Jul 19, 2010 1:17 am
Location: Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia

Re: Crazy Crackers bad behavior, please help!

Post by ellieelectrons »

Hi

I'm not recommending a nesting box - in my opinion a nesting box should be the last resort. If you are sure your girl's behaviour is the same all year round, then it is unlikely this is nesting behaviour, unless her brain is somehow getting a message that it's nesting time all year round, which incidentally can occur if her body clock isn't picking up on change of seasons and days shortening and lengthening.

You need to figure out what is triggering the aggression. In my experience, this always a trigger although it can be hard for humans to figure out what it is. A trigger for my girl was opening cupboards or picking up linen. It took me quite a while to figure it out as these are quite normal every day behaviours for humans.... but for my bird, these were possible places to investigate for nesting. Do you get any warning prior to aggression (eg. extra excited body language). With my girl, seeing a pen can get her excited and she'll be more likely to bite.

So, what I'm trying to say is there will be aggression triggers that make perfect sense to a bird's brain. I think your first job is to see if you can find them.

Are you certain she hasn't developed an inappropriate bond to you or your boyfriend?

Birds will also exhibit misplaced aggression. If something is upsetting them or exciting them, they don't necessarily take it out on the cause, just whoever is in firing range.

If things are really bothering you and you are really stuck, Pamela Clark does Skype consultations and is very successful helping people alter parrot behaviour using Applied Behavioural Analysis. I don't know how expensive it is though. http://www.pamelaclarkonline.com/

Ellie.
Skyes_crew
Posts: 1946
Joined: Thu Feb 28, 2013 12:49 pm
Location: Hawaii

Re: Crazy Crackers bad behavior, please help!

Post by Skyes_crew »

I agree with Ellie on the displaced aggression. She is most likely bonded to you and sees others that approach as a threat. And interestingly enough, birds bite the ones they love best :D I suffered for awhile with this from my conure. She was sweet as can be until someone came near me. Then I received a nasty nip in the neck or the chest or even the face. But the same bird would crawl down into my robe in the evening and go to sleep. I had to distance myself from her and let someone else handle her for a long time to stop the behavior. She still attempts it once in awhile. I have to put her down and walk away. It hurts because we love that close bond, but birds don't understand the limitations so its up to us to draw the line. :)
I am owned by my birds...and I wouldn't have it any other way :D

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